China is pushing back strongly against U.S. attempts to restrict their importing of oil from Russia and Iran, exposing a key weakness for Beijing in trade negotiations.
The U.S. threatened July 29 to implement 100% tariffs on Chinese goods if the nation continues to purchase U.S.-sanctioned Iranian and Russian oil, which led to a condemnation by the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) one day later. China relies almost exclusively on Russian and Iranian imports for its oil, with China receiving roughly 80% to 90% of Iranian oil exports while also importing over 1.3 million barrels a day from Moscow.
“China will always ensure its energy supply in ways that serve our national interests,” the MFA said in a Wednesday post to X. “Tariff wars have no winners. Coercion and pressuring will not achieve anything. China will firmly defend its sovereignty, security and development interests.” (RELATED: China Showing Just How Much American Defense Relies On Its Minerals)
Container ships are seen at the container terminal at Lianyungang port, in China’s eastern Jiangsu province in the early morning on July 24, 2025. (Photo by STR/AFP via Getty Images)
China uses its imported petroleum to produce a slew of petrol-derived products, such as gasoline, kerosine, ethane and plastics. China does not have sufficiently rich natural oil reserves of its own, and thus depends on imports for the majority of their supply.
“Buying Russian and Iranian oil for the last three years or so has been a wind in the sail of the Chinese economy,” Duesterberg told the DCNF.
“They’re actually exporting refined oil products to the rest of the world,” Tom Duesterberg, senior fellow at Hudson Institute, told the Daily Caller News Foundation regarding Chinese oil imports. “They’re starting to compete with United States and European oil refiners. But I think more importantly, they’re building up a chemicals industry. Oil and gas are the main feed stocks that go into that industry, and so having a price advantage has allowed them to become a major exporter.”
The U.S. has heavily sanctioned Iranian oil producers and the nation’s shipping fleets, aiming to curtail its movement of petrol to Beijing or other buyers. Former President Joe Biden kept existing sanctions in place on Iranian oil, but largely failed to enforce the measures meaningfully during his tenure, allowing Tehran to generate considerable revenues.
Congress is also currently mulling a bill that would enable President Donald Trump to levy 500% tariffs on purchasers of Russian oil, gas and uranium.
The Chinese Embassy in the U.S. and the Department of the Treasury did not immediately respond to the DCNF’s request for comment.
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